Induction-coil for m edical apparatus



(No Model.)l

H. C. PORTER.

INDUCTION COIL FOR MEDICAL APPARATUS.

Patented July 20, 1897 Mmmm (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. C. PORTER.y

INDUCTION COIL FCR MEDICAL APPARATUS.

No. 586,622. f Patented July 20, 1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

HENRY` C. PORTER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

INDUCTION-COIL FOR MEDICAL APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 586,622, dated July'20, 1897.

Application filed January 26, 1895. Renewed January 18, 1897. Serial No. 619,679. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, HENRY C. PORTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago,in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Applying Electricity to Medical and Surgical Uses, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying d rawin gs.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of apparatus employed to administer electricity to the person of a patient and also for purposes of surgical treatment.

My invention has for its object the provision of means whereby the many varying dif ferent desirable results in apparatus of this class are attained with a construction and arrangement capable of combination and cooperation within a small compass, so that the various parts may be assembled together as an operative whole and disposed within a case or box of small size, which is therefore portable, and provides means by which the apparatus may be readily and convenientlycarried about.

In apparatus of this class it is desirable and of importance that the strength of the current should be varied when applied to different patients or for different purposes with the same patient and that gradations in the latter instances should be such as not to injure the patient. So, also, it is desirable and important that the apparatus should be capable of producing a high-tension current for certain purposes and also a quantitative or lowtension current for other purposes, and means should be provided whereby the one or the other may be interchangeably brought into use by the operator. Further, the apparatus should be capable of an output of wide range in current strength in order to adapt it for the different and varied uses to which it may be applied.

To accomplish these results and other results to be hereinafter set forth by an apparatus simple and compact inform and capable of convenient transportation, as stated, is the object of my invention, and I will now proceed to describe the same particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-M Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus, the casing or box being in section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, the box or case cover being removed. Fig. Si is a sectional view on the line n :t of Fig. l. Fig. a is a view illustrative of the rheostat or currentregulator, showing the same in one position. Fig. 5 is a like view showing the rheostat or current-regulator in another position. Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the rheostat or current-regulator. Figs. 7, S, and 9 are detail views illustrating the mechanism for manually determining or adjusting the rapidity of movement or vibration of the interrupter. Fig. l0 is a diagrammatic view of the circuit connections.

The casing or box containing the apparatus is designated at l2, within which is disposed all of the apparatus for the accomplishment of the many different desirable results, there by rendering the same capable of convenient transportation.

As a source of current generation I employ, preferably, secondary-battery cells, as shown, to the number of two, but of course this number may be increased or diminished, as desired, and the cells being designated at 13 and 14C.

An induction-coil l5 is included in circuit with the batteries, and an interrupter or vibratory contact-breaker 16 is employed in conjunction with the induetion-coil,since the current from the battery is continuous. I also provide rheostats or current-regulators of a particular type (designated, respectively, at 17 and 18) and each included in independent circuits with the source of current generation, the rheostat 17 being also included in circuit with the induction-coil l5, while the rheostat or current-regulator 1S is included in a circuit independent of the said induction-coil.

I will now proceed to a description of the rheostat or current-regulaters l? and 1S,which are the same in construction, except that for purposes of compactness of disposition thel IOO the cylinder 10. Trvound about the cylinder are a number of turns or coils 22 of wire, constituting the resistance and forming a continuous winding about the insulating covering 20. r1`his wire is bare and insulated from the cylinder by the asbestos covering 20, and the several coils 22 are slightly separated from each other or slightly spaced apart. The cylinder 10 is mounted upon the axes 23, journaled in the sides of the case 12, one of which axes is provided with the thumb-wheel 21 on the exterior of the case, by which the cylinder is manually rotated to yary the resistance and regulate the current strength. A collector-brush 25 is provided, bearing' upon the spiral rib 21, and a contact-brush 2G bears upon the .conductor-ring 27, which latter is mounted upon the cylinder and electrically connected with the eontinuously-wound wire of the resistance-coils 22. A connecting lead or conductor-1S is provided connected to the collector-brush 25. The spiral rib 21 is also insulated from the cylinder by means of the asbestos covering 20. 1t is now evident that in the manual rotation of the cylinder 19 by means of the thumb-wheel 21 the resistancecoils 22 are more or less cut in as the position of the spiral rib 21 yaries in its relation to the collector-brush 25, as the point of contact changes in the rotation of the cylinder from one end thereof to the other, as the brush 25 rests constantly upon the ridge and the current is collected from that coil immediately in contact with the brush. In the continued rotation of the cylinder and the shifting of the Contact a greater number of coils are cut in, as will be observed by comparing Fig. 5 with Fig. 1, the cylinder being rotated in the direction ot' the arrow a; but should the cylinder be rotated in an opposite direction a less number of ,coils would be eut in or ineluded, as will be observed by comparing Fig. 1 with Fig. 5. By this means, therefore, the turning of the cylinder is utilized to cut in or out coils of the resistance-wire and the yariation in resistance is accomplished in a uniform and regular manner.

The secondary batteries 13 and 11 are connected with the induction-coil 15 by means ot' the lead 39, connected with each one of said batteries and extended to the primary coil of the induction-coil15, the other side of the primary circuit being established by the lead 10, connected with the vibratory contactbreaker 16, and from thence to the collectorbrush 25 of the rheostat 17, through the rheostat 17 to the contact-brush 2G, and from thence by the lead 11 tothe batteries. Connected with the lead 10 of the primary circuit of the induction-coil is a branch lead 12 to the binding-post 13.

The secondary circuit (designated at 11 15) of the inductioncoil 15 terminates in the bin ding-posts 16 and 17 and the binding-post 1G is also connected by the lead 1S with the supporting-post of the contact-breaker 16 of the induction-coil 15. The batteries 13 and 11 are also connected with the binding-post 1t, and the collector-brush 25 of the rheostat 1S is also connected with the binding-post 5U, the lead 5l connecting the former and the lead 52 the latter. The contact-brush 26 of the rheostat 13 is connected with the lead 11 to the battery by the lead 53.

It is now eyidenty that if an ii'istrument (designated at 51) is connected up with the binding-posts 1U and 17 a secondary or induced current will be obtained and utilized, which induced current is regulated by the rheostat 17, included in the primary circuit. Should an instru ment,such as 55,be connected with the binding-posts 13 and 1G, the current would be received and returned over a lead 10 of the primary circuit, the conneeting-lead 12, and the lead 18. Should an instrument, such as 511,(indieated bythe dotted lines,) be connected with the bindiiilg-posts 13 and 1T, the current would then be received and returned over a primary lead 1H, the connecting-lead 12, the secondary leads 15 and 11, and the connecting-lead13. In each of these cases of circuit arrangement the current is regulated by the rheostat 17.

As is evident, the rheostat 1S is arranged in circuit with the batteries 13 and 1.1 independent of the circuit arrangement just described, and the instrument 57, connected with the binding posts 10 and 50, has the current passing therethrough regulated by the rheostat 13 and is arranged independent of the induction-coil 15.

By employing secondary or storage batteries I obtain an output of considerable sustained strength of current and therefore am enabled to employ the apparatus for purposes requiring such current, and by means of the rheostats or current-regulators this current strength may be adjusted to the difterent exigencies of use and the gradations of change obtained with exceeding uniformity and without those intermittent pulsations incident to the ordinary rheostats in which the currentis renderedintermittent by the brealiing of the circuit. It is of importance in apparatus of this character that the regulation of the current should be uniform from the fact that a patient of an exceedinglynervous temperament may be injured by intermittent pulsations.

By means of the induction-coil and yibrator, which act as a step-up transformer, the battery-current induced in the secondary of the induction-coil is of an exceedingly increased tension and is regulated by means of the rheostat 17 By this arrangement I obtain a high-tension current and means for regulating the same. As described, I also provide a rheostat 1S, included in a circuit independent of that circuit including the rheostat 17, which latter cooperates with the induction-coil, and since this rheostat is independent both of the induction-coil andthe rheostat 17 and also included in circuit with the batteries it is evident that the current IOO IIO

from the batteries passes through the rheostat 18 and does not pass through the induction-coil. By this arrangement I obtain in one and the same apparatus a high-tension current by means of the induction-coil and a quantitative or low-tension current, the former being regulated by the rheostat 17 and the latter by the rheostat 18 in a circuit independent of that including` said rheostat 17. In order to obtain a practically continuous current for the uses to which this apparatus may be applied, as Well as an intermittent or alternating eurrent,l provide means by Which the rapidity of vibration of the interrupter or contact-breaker 16 maybe adjusted, since it is evident that if the contact-breaker 16 vibrates at a given rate the alternations of current will be perceptible, and if this rate of vibration be increased to a suiiicient degree then the alternations of the current will become imperceptible and therefore the alternations will, for practical purposes, be Without influence upon the patient, and for the uses to which the apparatus is applied the current will be in effect a continuous one.

In order to regulate the rapidity of vibrations of the contact-breaker 16, I simply change the pivot of the same by means of the sliding member 49X, which embraces the contact-breaker 1G, a rod 50X, passing through the sleeve 51X, being connected with the sliding member 49X, so that by manually moving the rod 5() either up or down the pivot of the contact-breaker 16 is changed and the co11 tact-breaker rendered thus capable of a more or less rapid degree of vibration.

Ilavin g thus described myinvention, what I claim as neW therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In an apparatus for applying electricity to medical and surgical uses the combination with a source of current generation of a plurality of current-regulators each of which is adapted to be included in circuit With the source of generation and each one of which is arranged in a circuit independent of the other together with an induction-coil included in circuit with one of the cu1rent-1egu lators and which induction-coil is independ ent of the other current-regulator whereby in one and the same apparatus either a hightension or low-tension current may be interchangeably employed and each regulated as desired and a contact-breaker for the induction-coil together With means for Varying the rapidity of vibrations of said contact-breaker consisting of a sliding member and a manually-operated adj ustingerod for said sliding member.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

HENRY C. PORTER.

lVitnesses:

CHAs. C. BULKLEY, W. T. ToMPKiNs. 

